Bud's Journal

Warning About The Harvest

God’s goal for His people has always been to be their God and to bless them. His love for His creation is everywhere in the Bible. His concern for their going astray is all through His writing.

Listen to His statement in Hosea 13:6 - “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud, then they forgot me.”

Hear the warning in Deut. 8:11-14 - “Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe His commandments, His laws, and His decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, when your herds and flocks grow large, your silver and gold increase, and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Verse17: You may say to yourself that your power and the strength of your hands have produced this wealth, but remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”

What was God’s covenant that is confirmed by this teaching? God made a covenant with Abraham to bless him and a covenant with Moses when his people came out of Egypt. This was a two-part covenant with God and man. God would provide and protect His people, and He would bless them. The people’s part was to obey all His commandments and worship Him. The covenant was in effect as long as both parties kept their part of bargain. But if the people disobeyed and forgot God, listen to his warning. “If you forget God, your God, and start taking up with other gods, serving and worshiping them, I’m on record right now as giving you a firm warning; that will be the end of you; I mean it - destruction. You’ll go to your doom - the same as the nations God is destroying before you. Doom because you wouldn’t obey the voice of God, your God”. The Message Duet 8:19-20

Do we, in the New Testament, still have a covenant with God? Yes, our covenant is with God through Jesus Christ. He is our Savior and Lord. We are added to the covenant in Jesus Christ through His shed blood and grace. Jesus did His part, but we must do our part; not just believe in Him and be born again, but obey Him in everything. If we forget Jesus Christ and go off after other interests and gods, we, like the Old Testament people, are doomed. There can be no halfway stuff.

Why the warning about the Harvest? Because we American Christians have been truly blessed. God has multiplied our wealth. We have a good lifestyle and freedom. But now pride has overtaken us. Do we really need faith? We can do it ourselves. Do we need God? Yes, but just as a status symbol, not as Lord of our lives. We are too busy making money and enjoying life to be bothered with that true religious stuff. Our churches are dying spiritually yet growing in numbers. We build big church buildings to show what we have done, but where is the joy and glory to God?

Our prosperity will either draw us closer to God, or it will drive us farther away. We do need to have a great harvest, but keep God in charge of everything.

Think on these things.

See ya in church,
Bud

It’s Christmas Season

The Christmas season is a wonderful season of the year. People become the people they should be all year long. They are kinder and happier. They become friendly and are nice to be around and work with. They buy gifts and receive gifts. So, what causes the change?

It’s because of an event that happened 2000 years ago. It was the birth of a baby that would affect the whole world; a Jewish baby that would affect every race, every culture and all people; believers and non-believers. It was the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

He was a King, but born in a stable. He was a King, but born of common people. He was the Messiah but the world would reject Him. He would die on a cross between two thieves. However, the grave could not hold Him down. He arose on the third day to be a testimony to the power of God and to send a message of hope to a very dark and confused world. This hope energized a religious world with new excitement and enthusiasm. It was God’s gift of His Son to the world that set the stage for the meaning and purpose of Christmas. We give gifts out of gratitude and appreciation to people and family because of their meaning in our lives. It is our way of showing love just as God showed us love by giving His Son. He did this, not because we desired it, but because God loves us. We give gifts also, not because people desire it, but because we love people.

The real meaning of Christmas is love. This is the bond that holds people and families together through good times and bad times. True love is unconditional and lasting. The love God has for His creation is why we honor and serve Him. Man’s love is why we honor and serve each other. It’s a bond stronger than materialism, education, position, race, culture, or anything else. We learn to love from God because He is love.

This year make this Christmas a real love experience. Give gifts with meaning and purpose. Seek out someone or a family you can bring joy into their lives by a gift, meal or kind deed. Seek someone who doesn’t expect it or desire it. Use your gift to be a true act of love. The true joy is in the giving not receiving anyway.

Share your harvest, your money and yourself to make other lives better or happier. As givers we know we receive more than we give. Christmas is love in action. And, when love acts, it brings many, many blessings in so many ways.

Christmas is a special time for Christians and non-believers. It’s the mood of the season. Everyone can benefit. Even some non-believers go to at least on worship service at Christmas. This season, touch the hard hearts as well as the tender heart.

Don’t let materialism ruin your Christmas this year. It’s not about the size or cost of the gift, but the thought behind it. Use this season to bridge the gap between broken relationships. Let the God of Heaven, who gave us Jesus Christ, touch your life and heart in a new way this year. Try love because it never fails.

Chaplain Bud

Why Enlarge Your Harvest?

As you enlarge your harvest, God is going to teach you some very important things such as:

Give it cheerfully to accomplish God-honored purposes. That is your tithe.

Share it reasonably to meet people’s need and fulfill personal desires. That is stewardship to others.

Save it in order to extend value and to keep meeting the needs of the future.

When we tithe, when we share and when we save , we express confidence in God and the future. God has a financial plan for every Christian, no matter how much or how little you have. True, we must have money on which to live and also to do the Lord’s work. However, God wants us to have a good attitude about finances, without being ruled by them.

God has given the Christian the responsibility of good stewardship. We are to guard what has been entrusted to our care. We are to set good examples so that our teaching has value and impact. Godliness with contentment is great gain according to Paul’s letter to Timothy.

As you seek financial freedom, make it a priority in your life. Don’t just talk about it , do it. Let God lead, feed and bless you. Come to grips with the truth and it will set you free. Peter said, “a man is a slave to whatever masters him.” Is that not true? As you enlarge your harvest, you enlarge your possibilities. You enlarge your potential. You enlarge the kingdom. You enlarge your net worth of Christian influence. You bring glory to God and His kingdom.

As Christians, we think of the harvest on two fronts. One is the harvest of our labor so we can live and glorify God. But, the greater reason is that God wants to enlarge our harvest of souls.

I believe the devil sidetracks us to be anxious and worried about money so that we don’t win souls. We become consumed with our lifestyle and we miss the greatest blessing of all. That blessing is seeing people come to Christ. If Jesus said that the fields were white for the harvest when He walked on earth, is it any different today with the population increase in 2000 years?

We have been commanded, commissioned and empowered to preach the gospel to a dark, dying world. The darkness is becoming even greater by the day. I believe we, the church, have been consumed by the maintenance of the church and are neglecting the call to evangelize.

These times are not times to pull back or run scared. We must be aggressive. We must enlarge our harvest. for the sake of the kingdom. With the power of God, nothing is impossible if we will seek His will and follow His authority. I believe we are weak because we chose to be weak. We have not because we ask not, or we spend what we do get on the wrong things. We are kingdom people doing kingdom work and that is our sole purpose.

“Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. “ Gal. 6:7-9

It’s harvest time!
See Ya in church,
Bud

You Want To Be Free?

But seek first the kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. This is the key of being free. By seeking His righteousness means that you are in right standing with God. You are in His favor and under His authority. These things that are promised are your needs. This will be your blessing and harvest.

Now as you are blessed you can be a blessing to others. Listen to Paul as he commanded the Macedonian churches. “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.” 2 Cor. 8:2 How could this be? They understood the grace of giving, not the selfishness of getting.

Living within your harvest is possible, but it’s not always popular. It’s a conviction, not a suggestion. To do this we must discipline our desires and understand what our real needs are. To live within the harvest you may have to reduce spending and increase your savings. Our savings are for the unexpected things that will come, such as a car breakdown, sickness, washing machine repair, etc. A good budget always has at least six months money in reserve to live on.

As a Christian, as an elder in the church, I am very concerned about the traps Christians are caught in today. Credit card debt, high mortgages, cars they can’t afford, luxuries, and I could go on and on.

This is one of our greatest stress factors today. It must come under control, and it will take real tough decisions. Christ’s church is suffering because of our lack of understanding.

Does God have a financial plan for the Christian? Yes, He does. He wants to bless us, and He is generous with His blessings. But we must put our lives and spending habits under His authority.

Debt is the destroyer of joy and the father of stress. We Christians have been deceived into acting and thinking like the world by living beyond our means and thinking material things will make us happy. Materialism is the downfall of too many Christians, resulting in destructive results.

Our load of debt has splintered our families, taking away the joy of our harvest; harvest meaning our income. So what is the solution now that we have identified the problem?

The number one discipline a Christian must learn is the blessing of God’s financial plan for tithing. When you do not tithe, you not only rob God, you rob yourself too. He cannot bless disobedience. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey me.” God is a generous God, and we know it. He will bless your harvest, because by it the whole kingdom is blessed.

We start by living within our harvest. This means that you live within your income. Big or small, that’s what you have to work with. These are tough times, and people must wake up. Our ancestors passed on to us good principles, such as use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

God has promised to meet our need, but not our selfish wants. Will He give us the desires of our heart? Yes, but within His will, our means, and in obedience to His financial plan. I don’t mean the church is suffering for the lack of money, but it’s the suffering of God’s people that is killing them spiritually. Jesus came to save us so that we could have joy.

Think on these things.
See ya in church,
Bud